1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the field of gas separation apparatus, and more specifically to solid sorbent apparatus with plural solid sorbent beds and recovery or separation means for desorbing fluid.
2. Description of Related Art
Life support systems are the most vital part of manned exploration of outer space. Due to the isolated location of spacecraft on exploratory missions, life support systems must possess considerable efficiency, dependability and robustness. These systems must also adhere to limits on mass, size and power consumption.
Experimental space shuttle and space station systems used various chemisorbent amines to remove exhaled carbon dioxide from the shuttle's internal atmosphere. However, the amines could be volatile, unstable and could release atmospheric contaminants. Some spacecraft life support systems use a vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) process utilizing molecular sieve beds to remove carbon dioxide and water vapor generated by respiration and evaporated sweat. However, inefficiencies result from poor regeneration of the closed end of the bed used for VSA. While pressure swing adsorption systems that rely on inert gas purging for regeneration allow increased separation of gasses, they require additional volumes of gas to regenerate the beds. As a result, these systems need large amounts of consumable gas that increase mass during launch and may prove difficult or impossible to obtain during missions.
There is an unmet need in the art for a water and carbon dioxide removal system capable of efficiently accommodating increased numbers of crew without increases in mass, volume or power consumption.